music

‘What Time is it, Mr. Fox?’ this Friday!!!

~ chasnaz

Alek Razdan Ensemble next Friday!!!

Music on Meetinghouse Green presents a free, outdoor concert at 6:00pm featuring ‘What Time is it, Mr. Fox?’on September 1 in front of the UU Church at the corner of Middle and Church Streets. Free-will donations from the audience will benefit the Northshore Health Project. The Lobster Roller is the food vendor. This concert was postponed from August 4 due to heavy rain.

Well known in Boston’s underground cabaret scene, ‘What Time Is It Mr. Fox?’ has earned a loyal following with frequent performances in New York City and tours across the United States. Their original songs feature rich lyrical imagery that explore love, spirituality, sexuality, and identity, and their performances are infused with energy, honesty, and emotional authenticity. Their unique brand of music and performance art has been adopted by popular singers, filmmakers, and repertory theaters. Band members include: 3rian King, voice, piano, and acoustic guitar; Nathan Cohen, violin, trumpet, voice; Dennis Monagle, drums; Renee Dupuis, voice, keys, and melodica; and Joe Cardoza, upright bass.

Next Friday, September 8 at 6:00pm, is our grand finale summer concert featuring the Alek Razdan Ensemble. In addition to Alek, the ensemble features his father Rikki Razdan on saxophone and clarinet, Jim Coyle on guitar and vocals, John Cameron on keyboard, Ken Steiner on bass, and Roger Brockelbank on drums. Free-will donations go to the Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation’s upcoming major restoration of Meetinghouse Green. The Causeway Restaurant is the food vendor.

Sawyer Free Folk Showcase: PETE LINDBERG on Thursday, July 13 at 6pm

~ Sawyer Free Library

The Sawyer Free Folk Showcase continues on Thursday, July 13 at 6:00 p.m. with PETER LINDBERG.

Having just returned from Nashville after ten years, Cape Ann-based critically acclaimed folk artist and storyteller songwriter Peter Lindberg will share his lyrical prowess and unique alt-country songwriting with us at the SFL at 21 Main Street!

The Library’s summer musical series spotlights local singer-songwriters. Performances are 6:00 to 7:00 pm on select Thursdays through September at the Library’s 21 Main Street location in downtown Gloucester. Each evening the featured artist performs a 45-minute set followed by a brief discussion about their musical career and approach to songwriting. The performances are free and open to all to enjoy.   For more information about the musicians, visit sawyerfreelibrary.org. 

You can hear more from Peter HERE.

Be sure to add to your calendar the following upcoming musical appearances by local singer songwriters at the Sawyer Free this summer:

Thursday, August 10: GEORGE CLEMENTS

Thursday, September 7: LIAM ANASTASIA-MURPHY

Sea Shanty Sing Along at the Sawyer Free Library on Thursday evening, July 6

~ Sawyer Free Library

On Thursday, July 6 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. join OLIVIA GALE for a Sea Shanty Sing Along at the Sawyer Free Library located at 21 Main Street.

The Gloucester native, musician, and teacher will entertain us with an engaging performance of sea shanties, nautical ballads, and other folk music written about the sea. Olivia welcomes audience participation as a part of her show too! So come one, come all! It will be great fun!

For more information visit, SawyerFreeLibrary.org or 978-325-5500.

MUSIC ON MEETINGHOUSE GREEN 2023 OPENS ON JULY 7TH!!!

~ chasnaz

JOIN US! for the eighth season of our free, outdoor summer concert festival called Music on Meetinghouse Green starting on July 7th at 6:00pm with the John Baboian Berklee Jazz Ensemble. Mayor Greg Verga will be on hand to offer opening remarks. Your free-will donations will support the great work of Pathways for Children. The Causeway Restaurant will be on hand with mouth-watering chowders and lobster rolls for your picnicking delight, so bring folding chairs or blankets with some extra cash!

Location: 50 Middle Street, at the corner with Church Street, on the lawn in front of the Unitarian Universalist Church, Gloucester’s historic 1806 Meetinghouse. Parking: free on-street and in several parking lots nearby; limited HC parking on the green. More info at www.gloucestermeetinghouse.org
 

MUSIC ON MEETINGHOUSE GREEN, FULL SUMMER SCHEDULE

OUR SPONSORS
Thanks to our sponsors, who make this unique music festival possible, 100% of your free-will donations go to our non-profit community partners.

  • Platinum: John & Janis Bell, J.J. & Jackie Bell, Scobie Ward, Cape Ann Savings Bank, Massachusetts Cultural Council, anonymous Lanesvillian Friends
  • Gold:  BOMCO, Michael Bresnan & Mary-Ann Sherry, Linzee Coolidge, anonymous Appreciative Neighbors
  • Silver: Fred Cowan & Dick Gardner, JoeAnn Hart & Gordon Baird, Charles Nazarian, John & Sandra Ronan, Karen Bell, Beverly & Addison-Gilbert Hospitals, Dick Prouty
  • Bronze: Jerry Ackerman, Peter Calkins & Susan Casey, Pat Johnson & Jeff Henderson

JOIN US ON FRIDAY EVENINGS ALL THROUGH THE SUMMER. HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN!!!

Musical Storytime at SFL @ 21 Main Street on Friday morning, June 16th

~ Sawyer Free Library

Sawyer Free Library is excited to present Musical Storytime @ 21 Main Street on Friday, June 16 at 11:15 a.m. for our youngest patrons and their caregivers!

Join Ruthanne Paulson for some musical fun at the Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street in Downtown Gloucester. It will be a festive morning of Spring fun, stories, singing, dancing and playing music.

There is no registration needed. Questions? 978-325-5500 or sawyerfreelibrary.org

Firebird Pops Orchestra returns to Hammond Castle Museum for a night of music from the silver screen this Friday evening!

~ Hammond Castle Museum

Firebird Pops Orchestra returns to Hammond Castle Museum for a night of music from the silver screen this Friday evening!

A smaller, chamber orchestra division of FPO will perform creative existing and custom arrangements of iconic film scores on our seaside lawn. Conductor Brendan J. Kenney will lead the chamber orchestra through the sweeping, magical scores of films and tv series such as Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, The Avengers, Game of Thrones, The Wizard of Oz, and more!

General admission is $40. Tickets are available at www.hammondcastle.org.

As always, special event ticket holders are eligible for a 20% discount on self-guided tours prior to 3pm on the day of the ticketed event. Parking is free.

All proceeds from this program will support the restoration and preservation of the 13th century, French cloister archways which are located at the front of the museum.

Photo by CMO Photography Studios.

Community Concert Co-Sponsored by Sawyer Free Library on Saturday, July 30 at 11am

~ Sawyer Free Library

Community Concert with THREE libraries! Join Sawyer Free, Rockport & Manchester-by-the-Sea libraries at Masconomo Park in Manchester for a great family outdoor summer show! Lots of fun with TWO musical groups: Ants on a Log joins Bee Parks & the Hornets for this fun community event!

Saturday, July 30 at 11:00am! Open and free to all!

Rain location is Manchester Elementary School.

For more information visit SawyerFreeLibrary.org or 978-325-5500

Celebrate Black Music: A Soul Conversation at the Sawyer Free Library with Schuyler Traughber

~ Sawyer Free Library

On Thursday, June 16 from 5:30 – 7:00pm, the Sawyer Free Library is hosting a presentation by local author and long-time music industry insider Schuyler Traughber on Soul Music’s history in pop culture focusing on a “Study of the Soul Music Environment” by Harvard Business School for CBS/Columbia Records in 1972. “The Harvard Report” has contributed to a powerful era, musically, while controversially contributing to the demise of Stax Records in the mid-1970s and Motown being sold to Boston Ventures/MCA Records in the 1980s, enriching corporate America’s distribution-control of Black Music.

 Schuyler Traughber has worked as a road musician, arranger, producer and label executive for We Produce/Stax Records, CBS Records, Motown Records as well as U.S. Business Rep for King Records/MCA, Tokyo. After fifteen years as a Music Business/Management faculty member at Berklee College of Music, in Boston, Sky currently resides in Gloucester and is co-author of an upcoming book: “POWER 101, The Harvard Report, Soul Music, & The American Dream.”

The event will take place on the Main Floor of the Library, located at 2 Dale Avenue in Gloucester. It is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5555. 

HALLOWEEN MOVIE SPECIAL: TWO FACES OF FRANKENSTEIN, AT THE GLOUCESTER MEETINGHOUSE

~ chasnaz

Two scary silent movies with live accompaniment on the pipe organ, Saturday, October 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Celebrating the season of dark and windy nights, hobgoblins, and scary creatures, the Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation presents two landmark silent movies featuring the Frankenstein monster and accompanied by world-renowned sonic artist and organist Peter Krasinski.

The first movie is a short 1910 Thomas Edison photo-play, the first motion picture version of Mary Shelley’s classic novel. This silent movie features sophisticated special effects for its time. Unsuspecting audiences were dazzled when it was released. Now nearly 110 years old, this rarely-seen film continues to amaze audiences with its powerful visuals.

The second is the brilliant 1931 Frankenstein movie that launched Boris Karloff’s career as the famed monster. The film had no musical score, creating the perfect opportunity for improvised accompaniment by a virtuoso on the pipe organ like Peter Krasinski. Karloff’s rendition of Frankenstein is a classic horror film, scaring and delighting family audiences for over 90 years.

Peter Krasinski returns to Gloucester this year to work his improvisational magic on the historic Meetinghouse’s sonorous 1893 Hutchings/Fisk pipe organ. Known as a sonic artist and maestro of the pipe organ, Krasinski tours all over the world performing with classic silent movies. The Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation is grateful to our 2019-20 Autumn/Winter/Spring sponsors who have made this series possible.

The Gloucester Meetinghouse, home of the Unitarian Universalist Church, is located at the corner of Church and Middle Streets. The event is handicapped accessible via the side door at 10 Church Street. Parking is available on the green, on-street and at additional parking lots nearby in the Historic District.

Tickets are $20 Adults, $10 Students, 12 & under free.

Tickets are available at the door or online with more info at www.gloucestermeetinghouse.org

CAPE ANN CLASSIC CARS ON THE GREEN

~ chasnaz ~ 1 Comment

SECOND ANNUAL CLASSIC CAR SHOW COMES TO MEETINGHOUSE GREEN, CORNER OF CHURCH & MIDDLE STREETS IN GLOUCESTER ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28TH, 10:00AM TO 2:00PM

With the historic 1806 Meetinghouse in the background, this early fall show attracts a variety of fine classic cars from around the North Shore. The audience is invited to vote for their favorite classic cars in 9 categories and trophies will be awarded at the conclusion of the event.

The car show is free and open to the public with donations to the ongoing preservation of the Meetinghouse gratefully accepted. It is a delightful family-friendly event with food vendors and live Dixieland-style music performed by John’s Giddy Gang. Tours of treasures inside the Meetinghouse will be available and include performances on the grand 1893 Hutchings-Fisk pipe organ.

Owners of classic cars may register on the day of the show ($10 fee) at the entrance to the Green or in advance by emailing car information to c.nazarian@gloucestermeetinghouse.org

The Meetinghouse (home of the Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church) is located in the heart of Historic District. Please consult map for directions since there are several one-way streets. Parking is available in a number of nearby municipal lots and on the street. The rain date is Sunday, September 29th, 1:00 to 5:00PM.